THE IKKIGATION AGE. 



343 



future of the outlying prairie lands of the State should 

 lend their aid and influence to see this inaugurated. 



As to farming around Cheyenne, there is no rea- 

 son why an agricultural community could not be built 

 up here if experiment shows that the ordinary grains 

 and forage crops can be grown. The success of irri- 

 gated communities has largely depended upon the grow- 

 ing of alfalfa, which not only produces a heavy yield 

 of hay, but when turned under it enriches the soil with 

 nitrogen and enables the farmer to grow potatoes and 

 sugar beets where otherwise these more valuable crops 

 would be impossible. The agricultural department has 

 taken up the study of this subject and has sent agents 

 abroad to discover the practice in foreign countries. 

 It has been found that in Germanv and other countries 



enable the farmer to raise one or two crops of potatoes 

 or grain, but after that it rapidly deteriorates. The 

 experience at Salem, in the eastern part of Laramie 

 County, illustrates this. Potatoes are planted on newly 

 broken sod while wheat and similar grains are planted 

 on older ground. If by deep cultivation and intelli- 

 gent planting we can retain the moisture in the ground 

 and then depend upon the artificial inoculation of the 

 ground by the nitrogen storing germ, it would seem 

 that there can be no question as to the future of dry 

 farming around Cheyenne. 



If this can be done, and I believe it can, the Young 

 Men's Literary Club should begin a movement that 

 would lead to an experiment on a large scale to prove 

 the practicability of the undertaking. If successful 



Fig. 19. Framing and Gearing for Wheel Shown in Fig. 18. 



in Europe it has long been the practice to plow under 

 field peas and other leguminous plants to increase the 

 fertility of the soil. Why this should be done agricul- 

 tural scientists there are as much in the dark as we 

 were here until within the past year. 



An examination of the plants which have been 

 found valuable as fertilizers has revealed a small germ. 

 It is this germ which extracts nitrogen from the air 

 and stores it in the ground. The problem for the de- 

 partment to solve was how to cultivate this germ and 

 put it on the market in a commercial way. This has 

 been successfully accomplished and the Agricultural 

 Department is in position today to furnish germs to 

 any farmer who makes application for them. 



We must depend upon the scientist, therefore, if 

 the utilization of the unirrigated lands of Wyoming is 

 to be permanent. By plowing under the native grass 

 the ground receives sufficient fertilizing qualities to 



Cheyenne will in a few years be a different city from 

 what it is today. We will have a large surrounding 

 country producing many kinds of crops about us and 

 instead of depending wholly upon the live stock indus- 

 try and the railroads, we will have a farming com- 

 munity, the best guarantee for a great city. 



The dry farm must provide a limited system of 

 irrigation in order that each family could have a gar- 

 den. The windmill solves this problem and the garden 

 can be obtained. With this guarantee for cheap vege- 

 tables the farmer under the new conditions would be 

 independent because he could prepare the ground for 

 crops by his own labor and depend upon the clouds 

 for moisture. His energy must prepare the ground to 

 retain the moisture and the extra work he must do is 

 spent in this direction rather than in building ditches 

 and reservoirs. It will be easier for a family to begin 



